HISA Suspends NY-Based Track Vet Galvin for Two Years

A New York-based track veterinarian has been suspended for two years after an internal adjudication panel for the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority determined he had failed to submit veterinary treatment records for thousands of sessions in 2023 and 2024. The final decision released July 11 levied a two-year suspension of Dr. Michael Galvin, along with a $25,000 fine. The IAP determined that Galvin, who has worked on the New York Racing Association circuit for many years, violated HISA Rule 2251(b) when he failed to submit more than 3,000 veterinary treatment records within 24 hours after examination or treatment of covered horses from Jan. 1, 2023, through March 7, 2024. The IAP's decision was posted Friday and noted that Galvin may appeal the board ruling by filing a written request with the board within 10 days of the written order. BloodHorse could not immediately reach Galvin's counsel, Kim Bonstrom, through several phone calls and an email, to find out their next move. Under HISA, the IAP is responsible for hearing rule violations in this category. Kentucky chief steward Barbara Borden served as the case's IAP member. According to the IAP's 12-page outline that ended with the announced sanctions, Melissa Stormer, an investigative analyst for HISA's enforcement arm, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit, told enforcement counsel that a daily treatment notebook that belonged to Galvin had been "obtained, copied, and returned to Dr. Galvin by a HIWU investigator during a search of Dr. Galvin's vehicle at Belmont Park on Sept. 2, 2023." She said the notebook contained trainer names, horse names, and notes that appeared to relate to veterinary records. Stormer went on to say that on Nov. 13, 2023, Galvin provided HISA a "work done" record that contained names of trainers and horses by date. However, she said the "work done" record did not record the specific treatments provided by Galvin to each horse. Based on that record, HISA in February and March 2024 filed a "demand for business records" of owners and trainers whose horses had been treated by Galvin. The demand required the production of, among other items, records of veterinary services provided by Galvin, and trainer administration records required to be kept for covered horses. Stormer testified that she then compared these records and documents to the treatment records that had been entered by Galvin into the HISA portal, and she created a spreadsheet summarizing her comparison. She said her analysis revealed that many treatments had not been reported to the HISA portal. She also testified that her analysis revealed that Galvin had not entered treatment records for several horses that had either suffered injuries during their race, or that died or were euthanized after they raced. HIWU chief of science Mary Scollay testified to the importance of timely reporting of veterinary treatments as it relates to horse safety and integrity. The report said that Scollay explained that stand-down times associated with treatments, including intra-articular injections, prohibit horses from working or racing in that stand-down period. But if such a treatment is not reported, the horse will not be placed on the vet's list and the regulatory veterinarians will not be aware of the intra-articular injection. She said prompt reporting is needed to allow regulatory vets to detect intra-articular injections that may mask pain and could lead to injury. Under the advice of counsel, Galvin declined to appear at a hearing—according to the case record. That record notes that enforcement counsel then presented specific horses and the treatments they likely received by referencing Galvin's notebook that included dates, trainers, horses, and treatments. He then compared the information to Equibase race charts as evidence that horses had received treatments, including intra-articular injections, several days prior to competing in races. The enforcement counsel presented evidence that "several of the horses that raced during what should have been a mandatory stand-down period were either injured and did not finish their races or were claimed, with the claim subsequently voided by the regulatory veterinarians in the test barn. In other instances, the treated horses finished their races but never raced again. "In addition, enforcement counsel presented evidence that several of the listed horses that raced during what should have been a mandatory stand-down period died or were euthanized shortly after competing." Enforcement counsel went on to note that based on treatments listed in Galvin's notebook, in at least two instances horses appeared to have had an intra-articular injection on the morning of their race. In March 2025, Galvin's counsel made a motion to dismiss the proceeding, arguing that HISA's notice of violation failed to state a cognizable offense. They argued that each individual data entry failure must be charged in a separate count and that to charge them as one violation is duplicitous under the law. But Borden found that the single count approach was correct, noting it would have been impractical to file a separate notice of violation for each of the more than 3,000 instances in which HISA said treatments were not reported by Galvin. Because he was charged with violations that occurred between Jan. 1, 2023-March 7, 2024, Galvin and his attorney also argued that HISA violated due process by an impermissible pre-accusation delay. IAP member Borden found that HISA rules do not specify a time limit for HISA to issue a notice of violation. On another point of contention, Galvin and his team said the case should be dismissed on the grounds of selective and/or vindictive prosecution. Galvin claimed that HISA failed to prosecute other similarly situated individuals. IAP member Borden found that Galvin and his attorney produced no specific evidence to support this argument.